Smithsonian Magazine: February 2010
Features
Uncovering Secrets of the Sphinx
Who built it? Why? And how? After decades of research, American archaeologist Mark Lehner has answers
By Evan Hadingham
Picture of Prosperity
For more than half a century the Scurlock Studio chronicled the rise of Washington's black middle class
By David Zax
The Venus Flytrap's Lethal Allure
Seldom encountered in the wild, the carnivorous plant that goes "against the order of nature" is tenaciously hanging on in its native Carolina habitat
By Abigail Tucker
Can Auschwitz Be Saved?
Sixty-five years after the concentration camp was liberated, the Polish government is struggling to preserve the decaying historic site that draws millions of visitors
By Andrew Curry
Renoir Rebels Again
First he broke with tradition to pioneer Impressionism. Then he was ridiculed for breaking with Impressionism to honor tradition. Now a new exhibition rises to the defense of the French artist's controversial second act
By Richard Covington
Behind the Scenes in Monument Valley
Venture to parts of the Navajo tribal park most visitors never see, except in the movies
By Tony Perrottet
Departments
Indelible Images
One Way Out
Carlos Perez could have been an artist or a gangster. Photographer Donna DeCesare helped him choose
By Patti McCracken
My Kind of Town
Well Grounded
She didn't plan on staying, but more than 20 years later the novelist embraces her adopted community
By Patricia Henley
Presence of Mind
Migrations Forced and Free
How the great influx of people from Africa and the Caribbean since 1965 is challenging what it means to be African-American
By Ira Berlin
Wild Things
Wild Things:
Life as We Know It
Octopuses, Dinosaurs, Pandas and More...
By Abby Callard, T.A. Frail, Megain Gambino, Abigail Tucker, Sarah Zielinski
Around the Mall
Local Dinosaurs
A new exhibit documents how the beasts once thrived in Maryland
By Abby Callard
The Object at Hand
Courage in Greensboro
Fifty years ago, four college students sat down to request lunch service and ignited a struggle
By Owen Edwards
Q&A
Q and A: John Gerrard
Artist John Gerrard uses 360-degree photography and 3-D gaming software to create a virtual reality
By Jeff Campagna
The Last Page
Stamp Tact
How the post office can lick other countries at their own game
By Bill Brubaker
